Grizzly Bandsaw question

[Jerry Gross]

Any one have a Grizzly 3 Wheel 12" Bandsaw? If so is it any good? I don't have a lot of room or money to spend on a bandsaw right now.

Thanks, Jerry

[Jim Becker]

RUN...do not walk away from ANY three-wheeler unless you find a nice Inca out there somewhere. Three-wheelers are notorious for throwing and breaking blades and it will largely be a frustration to you as well as a money pit.

"The most expensive tools are the ones you need to replace early and often." There are often nice bandsaws available used for reasonable cost when folks upgrade. Heck, even the Harbor Freight 14" saw would be preferable to a 3-wheeler!

Sorry to rain on your parade, but I hate seeing folks buy a tool that will only make them unhappy in most cases.

[Ed Moehlenpah]

I had a delta 3 wheel. It worked ok, until I had a friend try to adjust it. Never worked good after that. I could never get it to run without the blade jumping off of the wheels.
I replaced it with a Ridgid BS from Home Depot. It's served me better than the Delta.

Ed

[Jerry Gross]

Jim & Ed

Thanks for your replys. I'm glad I asked before I ordered it. The price seemed to good to be true....it's on sale for $129.00. Guess I better save up for something that will do a better job. Any suggestions? I will be using it mostly to cut pen blanks...at least at first. I'm new at this and any input will be a big help.

Thanks, Jerry

[Kent Cori]

Jerry,

I had a three wheel Craftsman BS that I picked up at a grage sale for $75. I bought it to see if I would use it. It worked okay for cutting small parts like pen blanks but had a very limited ability to cut anything much thicker than 1" due to a wimpy motor and the fact that it would throw the blade off the wheels if the feed rate was a bit too fast. It was a PITA to keep adjusted. However, it did convince me that I would find numerous uses for a BS if I just had one that was capable of doing the things I needed and didn't take as much tinkering.

I sold it at my own garage sale for the same $75 I paid for it (with the addition of a couple of extra blades) and put the money towards a Griz 05555 14" BS with the riser block. I then bought several Timberwolf blades in different sizes. This has been one of my best tool investments. I now use the BS quite a bit and couldn't be more satisfied with the Griz.

However, I still manage to throw the blade off the wheel when I forget to re-engage the tension release and start the saw up. Since there is no tension on the blade, it fits loosely on the wheels and amazingly enough will pop right off when the bottom drive wheel begins to spin. The good news is that it takes only a few seconds to reseat the blade on the lower wheel which gives me just enough time to berate myself for having forgotten again.

The bottom line is save you money and get a good BS. You'll be happy you did.

[Cecil Arnold]

Jerry,

What they said! I've had the Sears three wheeler and it was totally inadiquite, a Jet 14" with and without the riser, which is a nice saw for the price and will do most things you may want until you get into serious resawing, and now a MM16, which, IMHO is awesum. Go for the best BS you can afford. Someone on the creek has a tag line about the cheapest tool is the one you never have to replace, and thats true.

[Barbara Gill]

I have a Grizzly 16" saw and I am happy with it. I am posting to advise that you get your blades from someone else though. I bought two heavy duty blades for sawing green turning blanks and they both broke in the weld before they even needed sharpening the first time. I have over the past 18+ years used hundreds and hundreds of bandsaw blades on my Wood-Mizer and never has one broken in the weld.

[Jerry Gross]

Thanks everone for your comments. I think i'm going to save up and get a 14" Grizzly. Looks like the best value for the money.

Thanks, Jerry